Serenity
by Conso Anima
Summary: Daven Smith is seemingly an average 22 year old. About as average as it gets until the League forces him to pilot a NEXT. After this, his brother's past shapes his own and what he becomes. ACfA, and after.
1. Chapter 1: A Beginning

Disclaimer: I don't own Armored Core, though if I did I'd do nothing different with it. And, yeah, this is the rewrite, beginning with, well, the beginning, obviously. (Note: this is with the League ending, and, I've added a little bit of dialogue, didn't want to drone on with paragraphs with battle.)

So, the old life, no one's asked about that for so long…Oh well, it all began with a simple thing, I was the baby brother of a world-renowned Raven, known for his abilities in battle, against Berlioz, his AC Supplice, and Joshua O'Brien, the wrecker of Anatolia, who piloted a suped up AC. For some reason, my older brother Raven, he still wants to be unnamed, don't ask me why, he's not one for fame, not after what happened to Fiona after the last war, the one I was in, which, I'm just going to call the Cradle War.

It all began with the Cradles, and, it almost ended with them as well. Line Ark rose up, as did another company, to destroy them it seemed. In any case, it began there that I was volunteered by force for Collared, someone noticed my tie-in to my brother. AC training began not a few hours after they picked me up and dropped me on-base, leading me to a survivor, and fighter, of the National Dismantlement War. They put me into a simulator, told me roughly how to pilot it, and away I had to go. First thing I had to do: Make it walk. I figured if they were going to start with this, they're going to make sure I can pilot this AC they may make me pay for, with what I have left. I immediately began flying through the sims. Then, it came for the real thing, the real fight.

"This should be simple, you already know how to-" Serena, already acting as the communications officer, how great she's already trying to make me sound like I have no idea what to do. Before she can end the sentence, I hit the overboost and the vertical boosters, barely clearing the building ahead of me.

"Only a few MTs, and a helicopter. Oh, wait, maybe a Normal? Is that all you got for me?" I called out, as I already started firing. Wow, for a rifle, this thing isn't doing much...Boom. Okay, never mind.

"Let's see what this'll do to a Normal." I boost to its defenseless back, and unload the rifle into it, destroying it. I swap to the second weapon, and destroy the rest.

"Simulation complete, estimated time: 35.6 seconds. They weren't joking, you have your brother's gift." Serena added.

Well, at least this may not be all that bad, I thought, I could get through this, if it's all like this, what's the chance I've got to lose?

As I should've known at the time, it's never that simple. I was put on the Collared roster, bottom of the pickings, bottom of the roster. And yet, they gave me a big assignment already. The briefing basically told me what I figured, I'd have to go against Line Ark, destroy military assets like MTs, Normals. White Glint, number 9 of Collared...Gah, the name flew by too fast for me to catch...Oh well, whoever the guy is, I may have to fight him. Oh, and I got to choose my AC...One was GA, I remember my brother telling me GA heavy stuff is hard to destroy, but, a pain to pilot...Energy weapons took a little too much out of boosting, the other one, well, just weird to me. Finally, I saw the AC my brother piloted, an Aaliyah. Old, cheaper now, but, when I saw it, I knew the thing had plenty of potential, its demeanor still very impressive. I knew, then, that this was still the AC stomping machine it had been for my brother. I got it fully loaded with weapons, two plasma cannons, and two Hitman machine guns. Same as my brother, if I remember right, with a smile.

"Destroy all hostile forces the Line Ark has out, don't leave any behind." Serena, again, reminding me of stuff I knew...Overboost to the target, again. Well, at least this AC is just as fast as my brother mentioned.

"A NEXT? We can't take that thing out!" Hehe, how right that enemy was, as machine gun rounds tore through a line of MTs, and slightly demolish the structure behind them.

"Well, guess I should be less trigger-happy, oh well, another set's up there, this is going to be fast."

"This line is supposed to be open if I need to send a warning!" Again, Serena's yelling in my ear...What did I do wrong this time? Oh well, MTs can't destroy themselves. I shred through another, taking a little bit more care with the accuracy and timing. This time, they managed to send a few bullets, that almost seemed to bounce off the AC's Primal Armor.

"Primal Armor?! We can't do anything to stop this, where are our Normals?!" Well, if the soldier wanted to know, they're about to get decimated, I switch to the plasma cannons, smile, lock on, and fire, twice in rapid succession. The two Normals near me simply obliderated by the impact.

"Wow, that was stronger than I figured maybe-"

"BE QUIET!" Serena, again...Maybe I should stop talking to myself, or cut off the mike. Oh well, those Normals are slow, took them a few seconds to turn about, too late, though, I already jumped to the left of them, and quickly demolished the rest of them.

"Well, besides a little bit of distracting, you did near perfectly, but, nothing to write home about, nothing at all"

"Can I speak now ma'am?"

"Sigh...Sure"

Some time later, I landed at the base, the coordinates are still classified, mind you, so, can't tell you where. Anyways, after gaining clearance to land, I parked it at the modified AC hangar, where it had every tool imaginable for ACs. Sadly, no FCS points, so, no point in some of the modifying and tuning gear. As I figured, the bullets simply bounced off the field produced by the AC, doesn't mean the field generator didn't take damage, but, I left that to the mechanics. I walked to the debrief, got debriefed, and right outside the door stood Serena.

"Sorry about earlier, just, we may have an emergency, which has happened many times before, especially in this line of work, even for me." She kinda said that while trying to stare down the wall behind me

"Ehh, it's fine, I heard the same thing from my brother. Just, kinda used to mentioning things out loud, especially when I think about something. Next time I'll mute my end of the mike. Well, see you later, want to get out of this stupid suit...We've got extremely powerful and destructive machines, but still can't figure out how to make the suits comfy..."

"Should've seen how it was before, it was hell, at least they made some advance to it"

"What, how to keep the stench and sweat down? That's not helpful really Serena."

"Oh, really? I'll make you appreciate it, next time you wear one of the older suits."

"Ehh...I'll pass on that one.."

"I knew it! Knew you'd try to do something like that, you're not getting out of it Kid!(1)" She playfully punched my shoulder, and cracked a smile.

"Kid? What's with that name? And thanks?" I hesitantly return the smile, not used to her being like this.

"Just an old tradition, started from the 1990's, young, rookie pilot with a lot of potential tends to get that name, and not a problem, I'll make sure it's not fallen to pieces, though, it normally was like that for emergency launches" She's still smiling. Weird still?

"Thanks for the consideration..." I reply softly. " Well, thanks for the nickname I guess..."

"Not a problem again, see you later Kid, you better rest, AC pilots have been killed because they didn't get enough sleep, and fell into mirco-sleep. Most of them didn't have a chance after that tiny bit." She...Cares? Well, she doesn't want me to die, she's really not that type I guess.

"Yeah...See you later Serena." I quickly walk away, and go to the dressing room, located, thankfully, right next to the debrief room almost, and put on some regular clothes, eat dinner, talk to no one, go to my AC, try to work on it a little, get used to it a little, briefly talk to some mechanics, then head off to my room, I don't want to find out if what she said about the micro-sleep part was true personally.

And, well, that's how it began, my past in the war, bringing about the guy you see before you, with a happy life, brought on not by riches or fame, but because of another merc, but, I'm not telling who it is, not for a long while.

Well, I hope I did the two battles better than the last. (1) was a reference to Ace Combat 5 Unsung War, pilot you played as was Kid, and the ace of that war. Obviously, huh? Anyways, suggestions on names for the kid? I figured the names would be kinda different, c'mon, Wynn D. Fanchon, Berlioz, Serena, Shamir? That's just to name a few of the different names. I need to get the Xbox out again, can't remember quite well how it went on those.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Armored Core For Answer, or any other games by From Software, no matter how much I wish I did. I own only a game disc, sadly.

The second mission you ask? Well, I had my choice between three different missions, but, the GA one seemed to catch me the most. It had a nice amount of pay, and, watching the briefing, I noticed they mentioned I would not have to worry about wasting ammo. Sounded excellent to me. Accepted the mission this time.

"Kid, make sure that you notice what's around you, you never know what's going to be really helpful" I wonder why Serena always tries a little more while not behind her own mike to help…

"Okay, thanks Serena, this should be pretty simple. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go run to my AC…" Quick sprint, yeah, she's still standing there. I hope she forgot about the suit part. Well, only one way to find…Crap. Why do I even bother at times to see if people forget, there's that old relic, sitting where my uniform normally sits. It's definitely old, and looks like the collar's more for making sure if you're beheaded to keep your head there. Not going to be pleasant. Oh well, she and my brother fought in this suit, I guess I can manage it for one battle.

Immediately, I noticed that it was worse than it even looked. It didn't limit my range of movement, but, it was crap to be comfortable in. This is going to be a long mission.

Moving to my AC, I began to take the Aaliyah in greater detail. It had an ornate, if simple, emblem, based on the layering technique my brother taught me. It also had a white with a blue tinge for the main color, with the second color being a pure blue, and, the eye being green. Not bad, I thought. May want to change the equipment though, so, I walked over to the equipment and shop computer.

"Woah, I got new parts?! Not that I've really got the money for…Okay, yeah, I somewhat do, that Acacia's not bad, it fires slower, but, it's got more power, I guess I'll take it." The computer beeped after I made the selection, and then a gun rack sitting near my Aaliyah span around quickly, revealing the newly bought Acacia.

"That's new, guess that's what I get for being in a state of the art NEXT fortress…" The attaching of the part was simple, just had to power on the Aaliyah, drop the Hitman on the right hand, and pick it up off the rack, and, then picked up a Dragonslayer for the left arm. I left the Tresor cannons where they were.

"Okay, that should be good I guess" Well, I hope it is, I thought.

"Good, Strayed NEXT, report to the launch ramp"

Well, at least this isn't going to be that bad this time hopefully.

"I'm on the ramp, ready for countdown"

"Good. Strayed, launch in 5...4...3...2...1...Launch!"

"Oh geez…" the G-forces, as last time, made me almost feel like I was being crushed, which was a sensation that passed fast.

"Okay, heading to target site, any idea on what else I might face?"

"The usual, MTs, Normals similar to those from the last mission, and this time there's going to be fleet targets, cruisers, destroyers, carriers. Container ships are also going to be there, and they may have explosives in them, and that Arms Fort may be in the docks"

"Okay, sounds good to me. I may be able to use those ships later on…"

"Remember what happened last time when you talked too much in battle?"

"Yeah…Okay, I get the idea, muting the mike."

"Good, you're going to be in the combat zone about…Now"

Muted the mike, so she didn't hear it, but, "Thanks for the warning!"

Well, guess I better turn my attention on these little runts of a fleet.

"Oh, come on, short range missiles how much do you-Okay, fine, shooting cannons now huh?" I said, quick boosting to the side to avoid the missiles and the cannon shot.

"That all you got?" The Acacia was on them in a flash, destroying a (irony time) destroyer in a few rounds, Drangonslayer slash to the carrier knocked it down in a second, and then the rest were taken down faster than some of the ships could turn by the Acacia and Dragonslayer.

Now I just gotta find the rest of them. Small port here…With a container ship, let's see it go…BOOM. Okay, nice, that just took out that and a few destroyers, now time for some cruisers, which have to fire on me, but, they're not going to…What the? Oh, I got hit by a Normal. Well, cruisers are going down. The Acacia makes quick work of one, while the Dragonslayer takes out another. Then, it's time for that Normal and his buddies, which are reduced quickly to something resembling small hulks of rubble.

"Good, you've destroyed all the mission targets here, continue on with the rest"

Oh, there's more? That's good, I want a good payday. AP is 31319, so, not bad so far. Acacia's doing pretty decently on clips and rounds, so, no need to worry about it. Tresors are untouched so far, may want to use them. So, oh, wait, almost passed a submarine dock, shoot a Tresor and…Well, I knew they were powerful, they reduced everything in there to melted cinders. Again, got hit though, dang, I need to be more careful.

A few Normal confrontations, and a couple MTs later, I find myself in the much bigger dock, and, found some more container ships, which were promptly turned into bombs, which destroyed the ships surrounding it. After about 30 seconds, the rest of the fleet that was docked in that particular dock were destroyed, and, I noticed I was heading towards the covered docks afterward.

"You've cleared this area, keep looking for more targets"

Don't have to tell me twice Serena, oh well. Boosting towards them, I noticed a couple more MTs than usual, so, this must be where that AF is. Smiling for one of the first times on this mission, I unload the Acacia, which instantly shred the MTs and an unfortunate destroyer sitting near them. Again, just like clockwork, they all fell.

"You have about 3 minutes, keep up this pace"

Okay, I didn't know about the timeframe, well, at least I like doing things fast. Hey, look, there's a giant ship that's ten times bigger than what I've found so far…With container ships sitting next to it. Evil smile again, check, Tresors for an overkill, check, firing, and, there goes the Arms Fort.

"Arms Fort down, secondary objective completed"

Well, at least she keeps me updated about some stuff. Maybe that Arms Fort will get me some good money, I hope. The rest of the ships were child's play, well, almost, I mean, I am only 16, so, figured that'd count for something. Anyways, the rest of the ships went down, and the Acacia was almost out, good timing.

"All targets down, return to base"

"Finally, I can turn this mute off. Well, it is safe, right?"

"Yes, I'm reading no incoming attacks on you. At least, none that aren't stealth."

"Oh, stealth, as if I don't have enough problems already."

"True, but, there'd at least be some type of signal."

"Okay, setting NEXT to autopilot"

"Roger"

Well, another day, another mission, another wad of cash. Assuming GA decided to have a decent price per ship, and that Arms Fort.

Landed, this time another NEXT pilot almost hit me while I was walking mine to the facility with his LAHIRE. I figured the pilot was a smug idiot, so, I just kept walking it to the facility.

"GA appreciates your efforts, and sent ammo for your weapons. Here's your paycheck."

"Thanks"

Well, GA did give me a fair amount, now, I just have to figure out…Okay, so, final results is I've got money to spend on the AC, pay my rent, though Collared was fully supported by The League, which made little sense, and have my operator paid, since she's put up with me.

"Hey, Kid, nice job today, your NEXT recorded less hits than estimated for even a rank 10 Collared member" Serena said, but, unlike last time when she began the conversation, she had her back on the wall and was looking straight at me. "Oh, and I thought you'd chicken out on the suit part, nice job on not doing so. Anyways, your normal suit will be given as usual. The last two you used were actually not yours."

"Oh, yay, then whose were they?"

"Well, actually, the first was a rental, because they needed time to deliver your real suit, and the second was actually your brother's old suit, he left it behind at the Anatolia base, even if by accident"

"So, my new suit's what, actually good?"

"Yeah. And you may want to hit the showers, seriously, you smell to high heaven."

"I know…I was also in my furnace of a NEXT, air conditioner's not working either."

"Something else to be fixed on that aging thing huh? You should be glad the hydraulics were fixed, they were fixed right before your last mission."

"Well…At least I've got good timing"

"Yeah. Well, see you later Kid" Serena smiled, and started walking in the opposite direction.

"See you around Serena" I strolled off to the lockers, took the old suit off, showered, and ate at the cafeteria. I then went to my NEXT again, this time doing a full diagnostic, to check for anything else. Besides the air conditioner, nothing was wrong. I set the mechanics to it, and went off to get a good night of sleep, still didn't want to find out about the micro-sleep.

And there you have it, the second mission. What, expecting another mission with it? Or expecting more of a dramatic bit with it? Sorry, but, no, those come in at few times. Besides, you only asked about the second mission and its aftermath, not the overall missions and their aftermath. So, yes, it will be like this for a while. Just you wait though, as you see the man who took on Collared's number 1 twice in a row, and a man full of the ideas of Cradles falling, and humanity reaching the stars. But, of course, that is much farther into the story, and, there is by far many things else to discover, such as why Line Ark seemed to have another Glint successor, and why that other NEXT has been unfound for over fifteen years, along with Reiterpallasch.


	3. B7, Arena, and a Brother

Okay, notes first. Thanks for the first review Ace of Aces, I appreciate it a lot. Anyways, yeah, Serena's friendly because to be honest, guy doesn't seems like he'd make friends with Otsdarva or similar. Nor Shamir, sheesh, that'd be asking for the guy to be nearly killed. Anyways, two side notes beside that, I'm making the assumption that Collared has a main mercenary base, where they report every now and then, and, sometimes they will pop up, like Otsdarva did before, every now and then. Another note, my favorite idea of a type of romance in this would be with Wynne and the guy you play as, so, I'm gonna go edit it a bit, major plothole for what seems to be a mid 20's to be interested in a 16 year old, huh? Anyways, sorry for the boredom. (AU about the story a little bit)

Disclaimer: If I was sitting here and I owned the series, you think that I'd be sitting here sending this to ?! I don't own, however sadly, From Software's Armored Core games, namely Armored Core For Answer.

Chapter 3: B7(first attack), an Arena Match, and a very nice brother.

Day began as it had for the last few weeks, alarm went off, I punched it, stupid thing didn't smash when it hit the wall, but, it did stop at least. AC pilot clocks, they're made to be as shatterproof as a square foot of steel. Maybe squashing it with a foot on my AC would work...Oh well, gotta get up. Besides, it'd be better than having Serena begin again with the wake-up thing. Hell, they didn't hire an operator, they gave me a friendly drill-sergeant almost. First time I did physical tests she ran beside me yelling to keep running or it's 25 more push-ups. Okay, not really, the physical tests were to make sure I could pilot an AC effectively, with good response times, and to make sure I could survive being stranded, if I barely managed to survive the generator overloading. It can take about 10 or 15 minutes, but, when the AP hits 0, you've got a generator breech, signaling a surefire death if you can't move. Lovely, morbid thoughts and it's barely 6 in the morning.

"Yo! Kid! You better be awake finally, you won't believe what came in from your brother!" Serena, as doing her usual part, making sure I'm awake, still here, alive, and ready for that day. Really, drill-sergeant/nanny/friend. You'd think I was about 10. I knew some in the Lynx War were, I think Serena was as well, so, she obviously didn't run across my brother in a hostile manner. She did mention how he beat her in an Arena Match simulation though. Before she shouts again, I go, get dressed, and open the door to a fairly excited Serena, though at times it was hard to tell.

"Kid, Hangar 11, that's the shipment place, since it's your Hangar." I nod, and turn, just to turn again.

"Okay, fine, Serena, I am tired beyond comparison, can you show me?" She laughs for a few seconds, then straightens back up, a little more serious but with a grin.

"Very well then Kid, but just to note, you gotta run because you forgot!" Grumbling, I begin running, with her running alongside. She's definitely more athletic, she wasn't even winded after the half mile run almost.

"Well then, looks like you are practicing to stay physically fit. Anyways, Kid, go on inside, I hope you remember where those cargo bay hatch releases are, I can't remember where the things are half the time." She shrugs

"Hehe..Then maybe you should do some push ups, because you'd expect me to remember each and every time."

"Hey! I'M the drill sergeant from Hell, not you!" she jokes

I simply smile in response, and quickly go press the release button combination for them. Then, slowly, it opens to reveal something that drew all eyes, it practically seemed to have an odd glow to it. A White Glint head, but, painted as my Aaliyah was. My eyes were glistening, I saw some of the videos that had White Glint in them, whoever the pilot was, well, the pilot was overly exceptional in piloting. However, it didn't seem to be my brother, so, oh well. The next few cargo releases revealed its core, legs, and arms. Along with many OTHER sets of arms, usually from Lynx War times, but, included GAN 01 SUNSHINE parts, an odd 063AN quad leg set, a stripped down, upgraded, Aaliyah reactor made to be the same weight and power of an X-Sobrero generator, and plenty more besides that!

"Kid, when you're done staring, you really should come over and see this..." Serena slowly said, looking at the Weapons screen. I walk over, with a still-stunned expression. I felt my knees grow weak, sitting there, right in front of me, was most of the weapons, reading as SOLD on my screen. Awe-struck, and wanting to prove it real, I pressed the Weapons button on the screen, which made the four weapons racks disappear for a moment, then come back, loaded with every single weapon there was on there reading as SOLD.

Almost right as soon as I could recover, I had a message on the screen, I opened it, and, well, Serena couldn't resist knowing what it said. It read like this:

Hey little brother, I know you just started, and, that plenty are not going to enjoy this, but, you're my brother. I figured this little 'startup' gift for surviving thus far should be good enough to let you survive what's going to happen. I wish I could say a lot of this in person, but, at present my duty's to my Company, so, I cannot be there to see your dumbfounded expression that I know you have. Anyways, little bro, this might help you out, I've had the Aaliyah frame before, particularly hard to handle with standard equipment. However, this bonus should help. No need for the thanks little bro, I know you'll get along just fine with this stuff. See you some point. Your older brother

"Well, as I expected, that'd be my brother. Hang on..." With an excited look, I look to Serena, who just laughs, saying

"Yes, they are all your weapons, and parts, no one else's. So, if you want to do an AC test or similar, go ahead. Oh, and since I'm thinking about it, you actually can test yourself against my personal skills in an AC, I was in the Lynx Wars you know, so, it'd be nothing to fight against you." She said, smiling and apparently being a little full of pride.

"I might do that at some point, it might help. Anyways, thanks, I guess I got testing to do, this will be fun."

"Well, I'll leave you to it, there's an MT and Normal test set in your AC, so, just test the parts you wish to use in the Test specs. You can't modify which MTs and Normals you run across, but, you can adjust your parts. It'll give you an estimation of how good it'll do."

"Okay, thanks Serena, see you"

She walks off, and, I, still very excited, jump into the cockpit, and immediately begin testing the new parts, which turn out to be quite effective in many cases. And, for some reason, the White Glint legs slowed it down a lot, resorting to use the 061AN04 quad legs working with the White Glint core, head, and arms, which instantly made the thing shoot off at high speed. A selection of weapons helped out a lot, I found out that the X-Sobrero generator was particularly powerful at being able to provide EN, if a bit shorthanded on KP. I didn't know where my brother got this stuff, but I had a few ideas, the biggest one was that he took prototype parts from a Line Ark raid, and sent the parts he had and bought using his own account he sent to me.

"Well, if you're ready, then we might be able to give you an Arena Match, since you can actually adjust to your specific style" Serena said, showing her odd tendency at times to pop up.

"Yeah, who's my first one? Anyone to worry about?" I asked, while still admiring the blue NEXT that was to be mine.

"No one to worry about, he's using a GA NEXT that uses mainly demo equipment, if it was anything to worry about, it was very little. Mainly, this is to see if you're good enough to take down another NEXT." Serena said, while going over to a chair and sitting on it in a relaxed way.

"Okay, I'll take it" I reply, going to grab my new suit,

"Hold on there Kid, there's just one quick thing for you, you can do this stuff from your NEXT, as expected, but, it can be run as a sim. I'll explain it to you, you power up the NEXT, as usual, but do not power up the weapons or the NEXT's parts, you power up the FCS, and the network connections. You sign in, and make sure that you click Arena Match, and accept the ranked 30 match." She said, looking over the completed NEXT as well.

"Doesn't sound terribly difficult, okay. I'm going to use the equipment I have on there now, so, do I change anything about it?" I ask, going to the cockpit of the NEXT

"No, it uses the weapons on there now. Here's the rules:Just fight, and beat him, seriously, this guy's never won an Arena Match, don't be the first." She replies, getting up and walking away. "Oh and one last thing, don't beat him too badly." She grins

"Fine, take all the fun out of it..." I smile back, knowing she's joking.

After saying bye to Serena for a bit, I quickly go to my NEXT, and do just as she says. The guy's online, accepts, and I quickly chose Old Peace City, and, beginning on the southeastern side of the map, I quickly see if might be helpful in taking down those with a ton of explosives. I boost off to the left, and see a little white Kojima Particle cloud that signaled Overboost. I smiled, knowing full well he was sacrificing a part of his shield. I simply chuckle, and still using my 750 KM boost, meet him in less than a second, and started using an old Sirius and a new GA gatling gun for the left arm. The Sirius seemed to clang, and a shot rang out, taking almost 8000 of AP out, smiling, I open up with the Gatling guns, which do a terribly large amount of damage, and circle him. He kept trying to use his Dozar attachments to melee, but, I dashed around it. After a couple of Sirius shots, and a fair amount of rounds from the gatling gun, he switched tactics and attempted to use his shoulder weapons to catch me, which worked little, I weaved and dodged them easily, and finished him off with a final shot from the Sirius.

Yawning a little from the easiness of the match, I jump out of the cockpit and do some more testing around with weapons. An hour later, Serena comes back again.

"Heard you completely kicked that guy out, not even a single hit. Nice, only the top Lynx could say that when they were at your ranking" Serena said, while watching me continue to test weapons for the NEXT.

"Really? Sweet, maybe I should keep going until I face them one on one"

"Haha, slow down a bit though Kid, go do some missions. Which, by the way, you got a new one, you're to attack B7, and clear it out completely. Nothing big is there, just Normals and MTs, routine stuff." Serena mentioned, and pointed to the briefing room "Though you gotta sit through that briefing again about the mission"

Sighing, "Okay Serena. I'll go to the briefing." As usual, the recorded mission briefing. It seemed odd, even with Line Ark a major threat, the League still decided to wage their own petty wars between themselves. How much of it was Line Ark's fault I'd yet to see, because the League was fairly corrupt, and needed to be redone. But, for a merc my level, that matters about zero on the scales. Serena, before I left the briefing, also mentioned my suit was ready.

I walked over to where my suit normally sits, and, it looked similar to the rental, but, in excellent condition, with my name, SMITH, DAVEN. I put it on, and it felt completely right. Smooth, smelled new, no limitations in movement, slightly cool, and actually soft. Before I got in my NEXT again, I asked what it had on there, and Serena basically said it was similar to having a full-body conditioning thing, where it adjusted temperatures to suit climates and if it noticed the pilot was beginning to heat up because of combat, it immediately cooled down somewhat, to help counter sweat, and keep the cockpit bearable.

I quickly power up the AC, and finally hear the X-Sobrero generator full-force. It was quiet, as some of the technology was, and the NEXT immediately responded to everything almost, it was just as sensitive as it was on the tests. Smiling, I take it to the launchpad.

"New name for the NEXT huh? I take it you like the name, and that it goes fast then. Strayed Glint, you can take off, go get 'em Kid." Serena said.

"Roger that Serena." G-forces hit again, but, this time even less, I assumed the suit also had a G-reduction thing.

"Okay, yeah, it's fast, I don't think Shamir's Red Rum really compares to that, you're going over 700 kilometers an hour there, are you using a light overboost or something?" Serena asked

"Nope, not in the least, I wonder about overboost, I'll use it." I said, toggling overboost, which sent it maybe 900 kilometers faster in less than a second.

"Okay, okay, I get the point braggart, use regular boost, because you're getting close to B7. The gates will automatically open." Serena reported, returning to her operating voice.

"Fine, roger Serena, I'll cut the mike off." I said, muted the mike.

"Okay, good, you're next to the base, drop in and neutralize the targets."

The bay door opened, and revealed a sharp drop off, which I jumped down. Twice that happened, before I ran into anything, and, it was a few small Normals, which were taken out almost immediately with the Gatlings.

"Warning, enemy inbound, believe to be an enemy NEXT" a female operator rang out.

"Took 'em a while to notice..." I mutter to myself, boosting down the final drop off. Almost immediately I noticed the heavy Normals, and boosted forward, firing both Gatlings at the Normal, shredding it to bits before it finally explodes. The others managed to turn around fast enough and fire their weapons, which I deftly dodged, and took down another with a Sirius shot and the other with a burst of gatling. Happy with the results, I boost through the doorway, and in very short order run into a small group of lighter class Normals, which said hello to a smattering of Gatling ammo and fell to pieces. Not too far after, another group of heavies was waiting, on was reduced to scrap and glowing hunks of the titanium-steel alloy, the other was so holey it looked like a gray Swiss cheese. Another set of talk that I didn't catch from the enemy radio, and another small wave of light Normals, that were obliterated, and a final group of heavy Normals. Opening the barricade with my Sirius key, I decide to head left.

"This is simpler than I hoped..." I muttered, as I went through another group of Normals. The next set of barricades fell fast as well, and then I ran across what seemed to be small gun-turrets to a NEXT, and another small set of light Normals and heavies. All of them fell beneath the fast firing gatling guns.

"Reinforcement Normals sent from HQ"

"Two final groups, then this slow mission is over. AP is still over 35000" I say to myself, breaking the silence as I like to do still. After about 5-10 seconds, I'm sitting in front of a similar group, which fell just as fast beneath the shoulder gatling and the Sirius cannon.

"If this is all, then I have nothing to worry about..." I said, almost yawning. I sometimes barely noticed the side quick boosts, since the suit was dampening it effectively. The last group was up on the first level up to return, and was turned into glowing hunks resembling both Swiss cheese again and little pieces of glowing metal ready for a furnace.

"Mission complete, good job out there Kid"

Finally able to stop the mute on the helmet, I happily said "If these Normals get any easier, then I may as well just send in my NEXT with no weaponry besides fists and feet, and kick their butts across the mission-space. Seriously, this was by far one of the easiest."

"Just you wait Kid, you'll be eating those words soon." She said, in her normal voice. "Though to be honest, 'soon' doesn't mean tomorrow or anything, so, guess we might as well find out." She replied to herself, in her operator voice.

"Okay, okay, fine. Almost back to base, ahh, I miss outside from being in that place." I said, taking my helmet off and opening the hatch of the NEXT when I landed, walking the thing to the hangar.

"I wouldn't doubt it Kid, watch out on number 5 runway, Rai-Den's coming in again, and number 3 runway, Otsdarva." She said, making sure to sound like she was mentioning something that should be overall hated with Otsdarva.

"I remember, the LAHIRE frame. Not a bad setup on weapons, based off the vids of his fighting. Nothing compared to White Glint though." I said back.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyways, welcome back, make sure to head to debriefing immediately. Oh, and your 'friend' Wynne stopped by during your mission wanted to see how you were doing. I wouldn't doubt that you like her either, I can bet already that you're smiling at that prospect." She said, in a serious voice again.

"Oh, come on! I can't win with you around at times!" I said, smiling.

"Why do you think they made me your communications officer, or rather as I know you think, drill sergeant? Because I tend to get to know people well."

"Good point Serena, fine, fine, I'll go make sure this NEXT is repaired, I'll be in the briefing room in a few."

A mechanic, obviously new, scrambled up the paths to the cockpit of the NEXT, almost falling down in the process, since the thing was still swinging around.

"Hey, how new are you? I've not seen you around lately." He looked at me, dumbstruck for a second, then...

"Your main mechanic was transferred out to an Arms Fort, I'm his new replacement! So, what's the problems?"

"Paint got a little dinged up, armor might need slight replacing in some sections, but isn't this your job to figure this stuff out?" I said, climbing out of the thing.

"Well...Okay, fine, yeah."

"Figured. Anyways, what's your name? I'm curious, since I've no idea what it could be." I said, taking a look back.

"Eh...James Carlton. Yours must be...Smith Daven?" He said, taking a quick look at the name on my suit.

"No, it's last name first, Daven Smith is my name, or, if you talk to Serena, Kid...Oh well." I began walking away. "Nice to meet you James, see you later."

"Okay, see you later Daven."

Walking into the debriefing, they basically congratulated me, gave me the check, and said to move on, Otsdarva's coming for his own check from his mission.

Grumbling a little bit, I get out of the room, and run into Serena and Wynne, who are talking together, and hadn't noticed I was there yet.

"Hey Wynne and Serena, how's it going?"

Wynne managed to look at me first, since she only had to look past Serena.

"Pretty good, just wanted a few questions about how you're doing from Serena, since, well, the higher-ups don't feel like reading reports about a rank 30 Collared member, and would want some lackey to do all their work. I swear that this job just gets nicer and nicer. At least the jobs still hold some pride, if not much, I don't enjoy killing just for a paycheck really."

Serena, who was turned around by this point, gave me a quick smile, and said

"Well, she was also wondering about more than just that, though of course, if I mention anymore, she may just decide to face me off in her own NEXT, and, I was ranked in the top half of the old 40, but, that doesn't mean anything compared to the rank 3 Collared" I sighed, before replying.

"Umm, okay Serena. Anyways, Wynne, nice to see you again, but, I need to get out of this suit."

"Likewise Daven. Well, if it's okay to call you that anyways."

"Oh, it's just fine Wynne, I don't mind at all" I said, with a quick smile.

When I came back in jeans and a dark blue t-shirt, Serena was standing there waiting.

"I knew you liked her. Haha, and she likes you too, apparently. Not all of the questions were official type things you did for a normal report to higher-ups." Serena said, walking with me.

"Okay, but what can I do about that just yet? Otsdarva knows me as this guy who's likely to defect, and the higher-ups don't trust me since my brother went off the radar."

"True Kid, but you gotta remember, there's a time to fight, and a time to eat! And I know you've not had lunch either, so I may just be tempted to have you do 50 or 75 push ups and say you'll never skip a meal again." She said, with a grin, showing it was a joke.

"I'm starving and I have to do push ups?! Great, they did assign me the drill sergeant from hell for sure!" I said with sarcasm.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, don't go complimenting me. Flattery doesn't work, push up counts do!"

"You're crazy...Fine, fine, I'll go eat before you make me do a run around the base too."

Apparently, she never though of this, as she suddenly stopped, and had an evil smile.

"Good point, next time you skip, you have to run around the base, and if you skip again, you run twice, and so on. That oughta scare you into eating."

"Okay, drill sergeant from hell doesn't sound like enough, but I'm going to eat now Serena, so, happy?"

"Okay, okay, see you later Kid." She said, before splitting off before the cafe on the base.

The cafe, well, it looked like a cafe from the 21st century. Tiling on the floor, though instead of the old stuff, it was a composite of plastic, concrete, and for some odd reason, kevlar, though the reason for kevlar still escaped about 99% of everyone. The only truly major difference was the trays were automated to move across the counter on their own, and the teller machines just had to scan your ID.

I grabbed an MRE, for some reason, GA still had the bright idea of using this stuff, though it wasn't all bad. The turkey soup in this one was good, generally. I checked the back of it, and was happy it was set to expire 10 years after the date. Swiping the ID card, I go off and sit, eat, find the dessert in the MRE severely distasteful, and happily move on, before bumping into Otsdarva, who quickly began yelling he'd fight me if I ran into him again.

I managed to laugh all the way to my room, where I opened an old book, settled down to read, and, then fell asleep, thus marking another day down.

There you go, another chapter down. Sadly, my game disc has decided to quit working for the moment, but, I'll get it to work again. Sorry about how late this chapter is, though with all this extra stuff, I guess that's expected.


	4. Memories, and New Beginnings

Disclaimer: I don't own Armored Core For Answer, or Armored Core 4. Found a new copy of ACFA, so, I'll get back to a regular part again.

Chatper 4: Remembering the past to look to the future (filler, hopefully one of one)

"Oh come on Kid, seriously, what's so wrong with actually talking about your past? I'm sure it wasn't anything that big, especially considering how your older brother sounds" Serena, as the schedule had grown, was beginning to ask that a bit more, except now she was coming around to the hangar more times now because of it, and was standing on the walkway near where I had my head in my NEXT's generator.

With my head poking into the X-Sobrero like generator, I couldn't really do anything though. I sighed, and, checked the fields on the generator again. It wasn't always like this, but after some 'training' which essentially became me and Wynne just circling each other, trying to land a laser blade hit on each other to end it. Pretty much a stalemate until all of a sudden the generator had decided to begin acting up. And not in the nice, easy way either, it had to be an immediate shutdown. It practically began a meltdown, and, this wasn't supposed to happen with this so called 'Best EN generator'. I managed to have the NEXT crawl to the hangar, with a lot of help from Wynne and Roadie, and shut it down before any more damage could be done. Two days later, and, many angry looks for parts, in which Serena even began cracking down on our suppliers, we got the parts to make sure it wouldn't overload and kill me during stressed periods of battle. It was actually kinda nice though, because it showed me that even though I was around for only a while, someone actually cared enough about me as a person, enjoyed the time they spent with me. Besides, it was pretty funny, seeing Wynne's report on it as well, since typically suppliers shouldn't be like this one was. I say was because when the higher-ups found out, well, he was fired. He was later placed on an Arms Fort as a basic mechanic, for punishment. I think the one he was on was the Spirit of Motherwill.

Anyways, it finally seemed like the fickle generator decided to work, so I pulled my head out and yelled to James sitting in the cockpit, "Hey! James! Spin up the generator again, I think we got it this time!"

"Finally…Spinning up generator, keep your fingers crossed!" He flipped a few switches and then pressed the ignition button, and then the nice, even hum of the generator began. With a smug look on my face, I slowly got up, and, James cut off the generator.

"Sounds like it's working finally James, we're done with the Strayed Glint's generator for today." I smiled then, and turned around, and almost walked into Serena, who didn't back off.

"C'mon Kid, spill the beans on your past, sheesh, we don't know you at all almost, besides, I was also wondering how you got so good." She said, making sure she looked like she'd not let me leave until I finally cracked and told her. I knew it made little sense to try and avoid it.

"Fine, fine, you win Serena, James, if you wanna listen, you may as well come too" I said, sighing. I should've remembered she'd worm it out of me eventually, I just was kind of wondering what to begin with.

It seemed, though, that even James was really interested, and the 'kid', who turned out being at least a good five years older, putting him at about 27, 28. It was interesting, because it was obvious he liked Serena, who was then, at my best guess, 31 or 32. But I wasn't even sure if I could've been right. Either way, they were obviously going to try to get it out of me somehow.

In any case, they both sat down, and looked attentively at me, and, for a moment I considered taking a quick run off, but then remembered that Serena was definitely still able to maintain a higher speed for longer than I was. I softly grumbled in my mind at this, that I was pretty much a caged rat with no opportunity to get out and run off. So, I just sat down, and, decided to ask the obvious question I had.

"So, where do you want me to begin? I don't really know where to myself, since it's a bit much at times" I said, and was hoping it'd be an easy topic.

"I'd like to know about how you got so good, I mean, did your brother bring you by Anatolia and have you train there for a bit?" Serena asked, with a bit of hopefulness in her voice, as she stretched a little bit.

"Of course he did that, and it wasn't even for a bit really" I said, leaning back, and beginning to remember.

"It all started when he got his Aaliyah frame, it was a remarkable, agile, highly prized piece of technology. You could tell Rayleonard made this with top of the line mercenaries in mind. It boasted excellent speeds, and actually could carry a good sized load. After it became obvious he had natural talent, especially after the first raid on Anatolia, Fiona decided it was best to bring me to my brother, for training. She saw what most did in him, he was powerful, smart, and took down everything in his path, no matter how difficult it may end up being. She also saw the fact he missed me, and knew that even though he fought for Anatolia, and, especially for her, she knew he needed something a little more to help make him better more often, before he began falling apart from all of it," I mentioned.

"When I came around, it looked like I ran into him after he'd done something terrible, he was overly fatigued, slightly depressed, but, when he saw me, that was when he began to take a major turn. While he was growing up, he constantly watched over me, and, I kept him amused at times, he enjoyed spending time with me. He looked at me like he did a few years before he left, smiling, and beginning to show happiness again. He was under a lot of stress at the time, making payday and paying for a whole place was difficult in the best of times, if not downright insane for a single person to try. He was breaking down, in fact, there for a short while it was bad for Fiona as well, because she kept trying to make him happier, only for him to retreat further and further away. Eventually, with me and Fiona, we managed to have him become his old self, and believe me, it was a major relief. About two thirds of the way through the whole situation, we began my training. He was rich as well, his missions generally paid handsomely, and, he got me a Hogire frame to train with. It was really useful training, he honed my reaction times, and, even began to teach me how to potentially block an enemy laser blade. He said that I was natural talent as well, so much so that we began having simulated spars, and, each time against him, I got better, and he began enjoying it more and more. Sometimes I began to wonder if he began to think the greatest thrill was his pre-teen brother beginning to play him as an equal, as someone who could maybe overturn his supposed immortality that some were guessing at. In the end, he mentioned to me that if there was one person he had to worry about later on, that I was it. During that time, Fiona and my brother became closer, more like very close, because on the night before Joshua attacked, he said sorry to her for so much of the trouble he had caused to everyone, and, proposed. Most people had to admit that they were a good match, and, that now they'd not have to worry about either of them anymore, they'd work with each other, and keep each other sane pretty much." I mentioned with a slight smile, sane and my brother don't truly mix.

"Then, as we all know, Joshua attacked. My brother nearly died fighting him as well, because supposedly his Aaliyah's Primal Armor had taken a truly severe beating, and he barely could take down Celo as well. I couldn't see it, but, I heard the battle was one of the hardest fought. My brother's Aaliyah, after Celo's battle, had an almost non-existant Primal Armor, and, some of the parts showed heavy damage. In fact, his rifle was practically melted into the NEXT's hand, there was barely an operating camera, the thrusters on his back were operating at less than 50% capacity, and a lucky strike, on both Celo's and my brother's end, opened up the cockpit's hatch, and because of that, he managed to kill him with a last laser blade strike." I said, remembering how he described the end of it.

"So, wait, you were a mild match for your BROTHER right before he faced Joshua?" Serena yelled out, causing James to mutter an "ouch" and to have him rub the ear closest to her.

"Yeah, though I think he had a lot more of a fight with plenty of the ones on his list of ones he encountered. I think it was just to keep me happy with how I was doing really, because I noticed at times he wasn't going full out." I answered.

"Ah, okay." Serena said, obviously trying to think of another question, but, she didn't really think of anything. Then, she smiled evilly, and, I knew that smile anywhere, even though I'd only been there a month, and, sighing, got up.

"Yep, you know what time it is! Time for the drill instructor to have your lazy butt kicked into gear for PT!" She called out somewhat. James laughed.

"Y'know, I feel sorry for you Daven, she doesn't do anything like this for me, and, to be honest, I'm kinda glad about that." James said, which got him an evil glare, and, then an evil grin.

"Oh, I'm fairly certain I can 'persuade' the higher ups to let me work on YOUR PT stuff to." She said, with an evil grin to him.

"I…I'm good, thank you very much Serena." He said, slightly fidgeting. He quickly got up, and, yelled he was running diagnostics on the Strayed Glint for the next couple of hours.

"Get back here James! Who's supposed to help me fend off doing Serena's PT work?" I called out jokingly.

"Okay, now, you, Kid, are going to do half a lap around the base, don't look at me like that, it's only about a mile and a half, and then we'll come back here, and then you get to do 2 sets of 50 pushups with a break in the middle involving sit-ups, stretching, and a 5 minute water break." She said in a more calm tone. "Oh, and if I hear a SINGLE muttering about drill instructor, or PT instructor, from Hell, you get to add on 25 pushups to both sets." She said, with a very evil grin.

I sighed, and, began jogging. A mile and a quarter later I was barely running still, a mile and a half finally came by, and, to be honest, I was really tired. I was, in no way, a distance runner. I still managed it all in about 7 and a half minutes, but, this was at an almost sure to drop-dead pace after a couple miles. The walk back to the hangar was a short one sadly, but, the rest wasn't half as bad as the running. When it was done, I went and got a shower, and, happily enjoyed laying down for a few minutes. I was about to fall asleep, but, Wynne called. She heard the generator was fixed, and wanted a rematch, and this time she was going to go full out. I kept on thinking I was screwed, that was all I thought.

Some would call it an official match, since she sent in the request, some could call it training. Some could call it she just wanted to kick the crap out of an enemy, and, she wanted to try the 29th ranked Lynx. Some would just not care.

Going through the process again was rather simple, and this time, I knew she used a lot of energy weapons, and, knew she was going to have a bit more trouble with it if she had to also stay on water. Tactics, gotta love 'em.

"Smart choice Daven, but, let's see if you can back it up with your skill!" Wynne called out, using overboost to come at me. I smirked, and boosted off the platform I was on, and let the automatic part of the NEXT take over boosting on the water to make sure I wouldn't sink. I added in the regular boost so I could move faster as well towards her NEXT, but, I also turned around as well, before she passed overhead. The end result was she overshot, and, I had a tiny opening. I took it, unleashing what I could. I took out a couple thousand AP, before the NEXT she was in could stand doing a quick boost to the right. However, she was then out of EN as well, because over the radio I heard her mutter about my being too smart a pilot. However, she also had the smarts to quick boost towards a little higher platform, so, I didn't take out as much as hoped.

I knew it was stupid to attempt to surprise her while she was on that platform, no doubt she'd be ready for it, and, pay back whatever I managed and then some with her weapons. So, instead, I waited for a moment, and she quick boosted out, falling into Gatling rounds hitting her NEXT. She wasn't going to let me get away with that so easily, so, she fired the cannon on her shoulder, and her right handed weapon, hoping to catch me. She didn't, during which I was already firing, and, managed to catch another bit of AP, before she quick boosted. She landed on the water, and, I knew what was coming. I made my mistake of rushing towards her, and, she landed a good laser blade hit. However, her mistake was doing it in the first place, because I managed to hit her while she was doing so, resulting in her being pushed down even further on AP. That was when I heard a laugh, and, since I had talked to her enough, I knew it was the kind when she was enjoying the match. She wasn't worried about killing, which is something she detested, so, she actually was enjoying it.

"Well, Serena was right, you do have a lot of potential" Wynne said, as she quickly countered by firing her weapons, and, hitting. I swapped to the shoulder Sirius and Gatling, smiling myself.

"Time for you to find out then!" I called out, firing both, the Sirius hit landed, causing her to lose a fair amount of AP, and, the Gatling began to tear AP off of her NEXT fast. She quick boosted to avoid the next set of shots, and kept shooting, as I was doing the same thing. The only question was whose generator would end up not having enough EN. Since she had the most energy weapons, it turned out to be her, and, she tried to jump onto a platform, which let me knock off more AP of her NEXT. I checked the AP counts, exhilarated, I noticed I still had 10500 more AP, and, she was below 7500, but barely. That was when she really took it personally, and, began viciously attacking, which ended up shortening the distance considerably, but, also ended up with her only having 1500. It was now 4500 to 1500, and, she only had a couple more shots, and her laser blade. I only had about 100 rounds in the Gatling cannons left, and, only one Sirius shot left. I smiled, knowing this was the last part of the battle. We had about 800 meters separation, and, she overboosted towards me, and I boosted towards her. I fired the Sirius, as she was using her laser blade on my NEXT. Amazingly, for the first time, the program had the times for the strikes. They were at the same exact time essentially, just hers was a tiny bit slower, since the pulse moved only barely faster than her blade. However, the program recorded neither a loss nor win: A tie. The first tie since the whole program was made.

"Okay, how in the HELL does that happen?" Wynne and I shouted at the same time. Sighing, I stumbled out of the NEXT. I seriously thought I had her. But, she could say the same for me. Either way, it was an excellent match. I knew where to go to talk about it, the hangar next door. She was staring at her NEXT until she heard the door open.

"Daven, how in the hell did you manage all that? I mean, seriously, it was almost like you had it all planned out, like you pulled all the strings into either getting a close win, or tie. Or have you been holding back the whole time?" She asked, jumping down her NEXT to stand right in front of me almost.

" Before, I didn't have an iron-tight strategy about how to face you. I gained knowledge on how to fight you based off the spars. I knew some of it, but, wasn't expecting the vicious half that showed up to even it out enough for the tie. Either way, you gotta admit, that was the best rush in a long while." I replied, smiling at her.

"True, I have to admit that. Am I really that predictable?" She asked, crossing her arms, seeing for signs of a lie.

"Yes and no. Yes as in you fight with your style, and, while you do change it up, it mostly follows the same frame. Quick boost dodging, firing when you believe the opponent has left themselves open. If they managed to hit, then you'd attempt a different series of quick boosts and strikes. The vicious attacking was not expected. However, you could change it up by firing while quick boosting if you used the lighter weapons on your frame for it. My problem is that since some of my weapons are heavier, they can't be moved as fast, so, your quick boosting helps you a lot in the long run, though I still get in some hits at times." I said back.

"Since when did you get so good too?" She asked, now looking a bit more curious.

"My brother, and, the missions helped me find a good combo, along with the tests, and the matches. Which reminds me, I need to catch up on that soon, because I bet I can go really far in one go." I said.

"Watch out for Fragile, his frame's extremely light, and, made for the aerial battle. Same with his generator, which I'm sure you know of." She said.

"Thanks for the tip, I'll keep him on his toes." I said, turning around.

"Yeah. Hey, Daven, thanks, you're right, it was a lot of fun." She said, smiling.

"It was no problem." I said, smiling myself. I then, softly, muttered "Wish I'd take her on a date and have her say that…"

"Happily" She said. I didn't know she heard that well, apparently sound was also a part of how she fought, and, you had to use it well enough in NEXT fights to pick up some of the noise. Besides that, I also turned around stunned.

"Seriously?"

She laughed a little at that, then simply smiled, and, asked "Well, you gonna stand there with your mouth hanging open like a fish? Or are you going to suggest a when and where?"

"Wasn't expecting you to hear that…Well, to be honest, umm…I don't know of anything nearby, besides the base café." I muttered.

"Kinda expected that Daven. Oh well, I'll see what's around, though it's typically the guy that should know, and plan, this stuff." She said with a slight smile.

"Oh, come on! I was dragged here, slammed into piloting a big, humanlike mechanized robot, given a drill instructor from Hell itself, and barely have time for some stuff…"

"Well, you'll find out then."

"Got a feeling I will Wynne, especially now. So, see you soon, maybe I'll be able to find a place first…I hope I find a place first." This time, I turned to leave, without any extra mutterings.

"Bye Daven, but to be honest, I already have ideas, you've not been anywhere, so, most likely, I win this race." She said, with a smile.

"Sounds like a challenge, and you know I love 'em!" I called out, walking out of the hangar. Definitely, things were going well for me today, at least, in some cases. Now, time to go to my little cell of the base…After a quick snack.

After the snack, which consisted of a decent amount of hot chicken wings, and some discussing with fellow Lynx (rather, arguing very loud with Lynx who disputed my battle with Wynne) I was tired, and, fell asleep, knowing I'd be getting a mission, and, mildly dreaded it. But, I still slipped into sleep easily.

Only one review so far, so, no idea how many people like this. Oh well, guess it can't be helped at times. Sorry this took so long to post, I was hoping to get ACFA, so I can post stories again. And the biggest reason I needed the disk? I wanted the next one, the Arms Fort Giga Base destruction mission with the VOB and stuff to be done from the Hard setting. Figured that'd be a lot easier, than just having a simple little mission that it normally is.


	5. Merc Romance!

Notes: The tactics I actually use DO involve picking up on noises, because sometimes I'm stuck in where I can't see the enemy's weapons, and, I can sometimes pick up on the sounds of the shots. It's highly useful at times, to know to quick boost when I hear something similar to the Grenade Cannon on the Rai-Den. And not the small Arm set either; I'm talking about the one that's more like an atomic bomb.

Disclaimer: I don't own Armored Core For Answer. I don't even work for the company that made it.

Chapter 5: The faults of a VOB.

The next day began like any other. Stupid alarm clock buzzed in my ear. I punch it. It turns off, but doesn't break, then, a small section of PTs with Serena, which are getting easier every day. The thing that was new to the schedule? Mission, followed by a few Arena matches against some more members of Collared. The matches were nothing compared to the mission.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good, tough mission. I enjoy it thoroughly. But there is a point where it's just stupid…And the mistakes came from another end, not mine. But, I guess the full story would be best.

"Hey, Kid, Interior's got the VOB ready in launch bay 2." Serena stated, while I was walking the NEXT out of the hangar.

"Now, do you remember everything on using the VOB?" She asked.

"Yeah. The regular boost gives only a little extra speed, but, makes it far more maneuverable. It also climbs while that's going on. The quick boost is a double edged sword, you'll dodge pretty much anything except a highly maneuverable missile, or a very large shot. The VOB's designed to take a couple hits at max, since it also will separate into very many small pieces when it's out of fuel, and when you or I toggle it to jettison. Since I also have the White Glint core, it also, miraculously, makes it a bit faster, since it also takes the output from the overboost's so called 'wings'. I wonder, at times, why they're called wings, but at the same time, I guess that they're as close as any of us get to having wings on an AC, without it looking too much like Fragile, and about as much AP, as in lower than 25000." I stated.

"You enjoy talking a lot at times it seems…Ah whatever. Anyways, you got it about as close as I expected, which, well, is pretty much completely right. Also take into effect overboost does not work. And about the wings part…I don't know either, but, yeah, as you said, they're as close to wings as we get besides Fragile. It's really cool that they even unfold too. Anyways, this is actually going to take another minute, an Interior just radioed in, saying he had to do something to the VOB real quick." She mentioned, while I spun the NEXT around. Instead of expected, the elevator went down.

"Uhh…Serena, is this elevator going the right way? I mean, seriously, I know that the whole base is above and below ground. But, this is just a SERIOUS cliché thrown in. Ah, whatever." The elevator stopped then, with the VOB prepared right behind me.

"Yeah, I know, it made little sense to me as well. Oh well, the VOB's completely ready now." Serena stated. "The VOB is going to be attached straight onto the back of your NEXT. Spread out the wings on the Strayed Glint so they can attach the lines from the overboost thrusters to the VOB. Then make sure that all thrusters are not operating, and, open all coverings to those thrusters. Also, open the VOB hatch to the generator, and, then, just gotta wait for it all."

"Gotcha. Extending White Glint overboost wings, opening covers to all thrusters, opening hatch to the generator, for the VOB." I said, hands dancing across the different controls. The wings extended, and, surprisingly, most of the back ended up open for the different thrusters and then the large hatch on the back to the generator.

"Okay then, ready for connection to the VOB." I said to the person who oversaw the VOB attachments and Serena.

"Good, the VOB will be attached to the generator and some of the thrusters in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." She said, which right after 1, the VOB managed to hit the NEXT hard enough to make it softly be jarred. Quite a feat with four legs, but, oh well. "Attaching tubes and connectors to the rest of the thrusters and overboost thrusters, this should only take about a minute."

"Good, sheesh though, this is like back in the 20 and 21st century's launching ICBMs. The VOB system feels like it's amazingly complex at times." I mention, noticing that the VOB part of the HUD read 67% completed, which jumped every single thruster attachment.

"It is, but, the VOB is the fastest thing on the battlefield, besides when you're lunging with an energy sword with your NEXT. The VOB will be quite heavy, so, make sure to bend a little forward with the core part of the NEXT, so that the legs will get a little more balanced considering it's very heavy." She added, because normally when it's all connected, it's taken off the rack.

"Roger. Connection status is at 97%. Now 100%. Ready for launch. " I said, for the benefit of all. More like the benefit of the launch crew. Bending slightly forward, the launch sequence began. This time, it was a bit slower, and then I tapped the vertical thrusters at the end, and, then ignited the VOB engines to full. It definitely moved fast, the VOB, I was thrown very hard into the seat, barely keeping a good hand on the controls to make sure I wouldn't hit the ground.

"You're going to be in the operating space in less than 5 minutes." Serena mentioned.

After a couple seconds the force of acceleration lessened, and, I could speak easier. "Okay, well, this thing is I'm reading a slight error in the VOB, it's saying it's non-threatening thankfully." I said, while looking at the small, blinking green light on the HUD.

"Hmm…That's odd. If it's non-threatening then at least we won't have to worry about it. Purge the first stage tanks, they're empty now."

"Okay Serena, and this thing's actually going a little bit faster than expected."

"Hmm…Okay, you'd better be ready to mute your mike then already, because the area's going to be there in about 5 seconds."

"Great…" I said, muting the mike.

"Your target is at the end of the fleet, it's the Arms For Giga Base. It's an old one, but, don't underestimate it. Ignore the fleet, you'll only be wasting ammo."d

About half a second after she said that, a loud shot rang out, and, true to form, a giant shot emerged. It wasn't good enough though, the boost I was adding to the VOB thrust was more than enough to make it agile enough to dodge the shots easily. After about 15 seconds though, there was a major problem. One of the tanks had a flame that caught, and, then exploded on the inside of the VOB, making the whole thing catch on fire.

"Heavy damage to the VOB! Beginning emergency purge!" Serena shouted, with a lot of annoyance and worry.

"Damn those Interior scum!" Serena yelled on the comms. "You're going to have to get there using regular boost, be careful!"

I knew boosting on the water had a few serious faults, especially with quick boost. Namely, it made you start flying easily. However, I made a strategy to help with that, and, it worked well. Barely being on the water during the whole time, and, still keeping a fair amount of EN ready, I essentially began hopping on the water, using a well timed quick boost, and regular boost. The EN normally was recovered before the next, and the Giga Base, and, parts of the fleet, had a hard time hitting my erratic NEXT. However, it did knock the thing down from the previous 38076 to around 34000. It'd just have to do. I dodged a set of missiles, some of them just barely skimming the PA field. They kept getting closer, too.

Closing on it, I couldn't avoid one of the last shots it could make. Thankfully, it wasn't a double shot, it was a single one, but, it nearly pierced the PA barrier, I could see while it was fading where the PA was cracking. Too close to be hit again, I twirled around on the right side of it, unloading the shoulder Gatling cannon and the Sirius into it, praying that it would be effective. Giga Base sent a large wave of missiles, some of which hit, and, did a surprising amount of damage. Undeterred, I kept shooting, and circling. The Sirius fired, knocking a giant hole in the side, right above the water line, where bullets also were impacting just above the water from the Gatling. The ship wasn't made to take so much damage at once, and, began to sink fast, especially when it hit the large holes from the Sirius. Right before it was halfway down, it exploded. Seizing a quick chance, I also took down a few transports while it was sinking. No shots came from the Giga Base, however, since the crew was intent on getting off of it.

"Okay, mission complete, head back. I'm going to go see if we can go have a talk with Wynne, and see if we can get that guy fired. Or worse. He's supposed to help out. Either way, someone needs to kick his butt all over the base, since he attempted to kill a Lynx." Serena stated, with a lot of fury in her voice.

Unmuting the mike, I call out openly "Hey, Serena, calm down a bit, she helped us a lot with the whole disaster with finding a single spare part. Besides, I owe her a lot."

"She doesn't mind, I'm sure." Serena said.

"I kinda don't want to push it, I mean, if it was an attempt, it was a bad one. The generator falling to pieces on Strayed Glint was by far the worst." I retorted.

"Fine, fine, then it's on your own hide then, if this happens again."

*sighs* "Serena, which runway this time?"

"Runway 4, Roadie's coming back from a shortrange mission. Apparently there was a disturbance in a GA warehouse involving an unidentified NEXT. It's odd, there's unidentified NEXTs appearing more commonly nowadays. I wonder if we're just beginning to find them, or, if it's increasing because there's a group controlling them. It wasn't a regular warehouse, the warehouse where the unidentified NEXT was a warehouse for NEXT supplies, and, the heavy weapons too. Apparently they also stole Gatling weapons, bazookas, and a couple complete NEXTs, that were supposed to be sent in to others soon. So, some of the Lynx who pilot for GA won't be getting upgrades any time soon."

"Double edged sword for my case, the NEXTs they have won't be getting major upgrades to a few things, but, it's also the NEXTs they're most comfortable in. Well, assuming I run into them. Oh, and Serena, I noticed something while checking the NEXT files, it said I could submit my own design of the NEXT I currently pilot, think that's possible with Strayed Glint?"

"Yeah, just make sure to list the parts you're using. If they're custom built, then put the parts that are equal to them."

"Okay, I've only got two ideas for frames though, Strayed Glint and Heavy Glint."

"Heavy Glint? You don't need a heavy with that NEXT you pilot."

"Hey, it's a just in case thing."

"Sure…You just want to avoid evening PT work huh?"

"…"

"Knew it."

The mission debriefing also filed a VOB issue, involving punishment for threatening a pilot, and an attempt on that pilot's life. Suffice to say, that guy was also working on Spirit of Motherwill. I noticed why most of them were being transferred to Motherwill, and made a mental note to ask Wynne why that generally is. After that, I went out of the briefing area, with a decent check, and, finally, points to tune the NEXT I pilot. It's funny though, walking out of a debrief into Serena, James, and Wynne on one side, while Otsdarva and CUBE were on the other. CUBE turned out to almost be a computer style human, and, Otsdarva…Well, guess it's only possible to point it out this way.

I'm about 6 feet tall. 6 foot and 1 inch to be precise. Brown hair, blue-gray eyes, somewhat on the tanned side generally, lean, but with a decent muscle build, thanks to regular PTs after about a month, with pretty good looks in my honest opinion.

Otsdarva…He's 5 foot 6, jet black hair, almost black eyes, pale, lean, and, well, not so great on the looks end. He doesn't look truly intimidating, and almost looks scared when he tries to scare others. CUBE, well, he's 5 feet 9 inches, with blue hair, crimson eyes, almost ghost white skin, and a heavy muscle build, at least, for a robot. He looks intimidating, even when he's looking up at you.

Serena's actually somewhat short. Even for Otsdarva. She's 5 foot 3 inches, brown hair, bright green eyes, not overly tanned, and similar to a dancer. Pretty good looks too. James is 5 foot 10 inches, red hair, light brown eyes, somewhat pale, and is even less intimidating than Otsdarva, even though he has a good amount of muscle. Wynne is 5 foot 11 inches, dark brown hair, blue gray eyes, somewhat tan, and, like Serena, looks like a dancer in build. She has great looks, but, can also look very intimidating.

The situation? An angered Serena stomping down to the briefing room to practically make sure that the punishment for the guy who did this was torn a new one, and when she told Wynne, Wynne was ready to go slowly squish the guy under her NEXT. What can I say? I wasn't sure where they got the whole riled up part.

Anyways, Serena in her anger accidentally ran into a waiting Otsdarva and CUBE, who were readying for their own debriefing. Otsdarva immediately called her out on it, James came to try to help Serena, CUBE started in on James, and then Wynne came in, not enjoying the insulting in the least, since they were insulting some of the only people in the organization who had the honor to not enjoy the killing part of the job, or overlook it like it was pointless.

When I stepped out, it felt like I dropped into a raging inferno of hatred. Everyone, besides James, who was out of place, and me, who just dropped in, was ready to go grab their NEXT and try to attack each other. More tension there than a cable stretched to the point right before it breaks. It was hilarious looking at Otsdarva, he was trying so hard to look intimidating he looked like he was going to die of fright instead. When Serena, Wynne, and James looked over at me, the tension on their end, well, ended. Wynne asked the question of how long the guy would be serving, and I answered he'd retire there.(Though, at the time, I meant with his life still around) on the Motherwill. She laughed at that, and my next question of why everyone was sent there. She then told me that was because the Motherwill was seemingly always in the desert, and, seemingly always hotter than 100 degrees, even on a good night.

"The great thing is, now I've got a few matches to go to. See you soon Wynne, James, Serena. Oh, and Otsdarva, CUBE, do most of us a favor, go drown your egos in a hole." I said, walking away before they could get some odd threat out.

And…The matches I went to? It was like comparing a Model T to a late 2000's Lamborghini. Not one of those battles is exciting enough to even begin to recount. Mrs. Theresia was the hardest of them all, and, she barely put a dent on a single part in the simulations. I ran literal circles around them with my NEXT, often times being out of the aiming portion for them. Such is the ways of low-ranking pilots in Collared, it's very top heavy, unless I hit Fragile. He's ranked 17, but I've heard rumors that he's far better than that.

The number 26 was fairly interesting though, all things considered. The pilot's name was Yei, with a NEXT named Emerald Raccoon. It stuck out a mile away. I chose the desert as the fighting grounds, since it made the most sense to me. Yei focused on a mildly heavy NEXT, with a standard sniper rifle, long range missiles, and a long range rifle.

The most typical thing that screws with a sniper is the fact that you're close enough to shoot back. Very typically, this does enough to also screw up their shots. It worked out pretty decently with Emerald Raccoon, as with almost all NEXT long rangers, he only had long distance equipment. He managed to land the first hit, and, I'm not a psychological fighter generally, but, I knew getting hit first can seriously harm you, or them. As it turns out almost always, it was him.

The sniper round did very little, but, the Gatling cannons on my NEXT's arms? They went in to chew his NEXT up. However, he did do something not quite expected, he didn't attempt to fight me on my terms, he quick boosted and regular boosted away, but, not fast enough. His AP was taking a bit of a dip, but, not fast enough for me. I swapped to the Sirius, and Gatling cannon on the shoulders. The Sirius rang out, and the Gatling cannon spat out rounds as fast as it could, shredding into his PA. He quick boosted off to the right, saving him from a second Sirius shot and a few dozen Gatling rounds.

However, it didn't stop his doom. Instead of being able to immediately fire, as he hoped for, instead he was still stuck with his left facing me. But, for some strange reason, his missiles found a lock. He fired them, and, unpleasantly, I accidentally ran straight into them, which knocked my AC back surprisingly. He fired his weapons as soon as he could, hoping to take me down before I could fight back.

It didn't work. He still got a massive donation of lead and plasma into his NEXT, which fried the NEXT, ending in a successful completion. The result on my end was that I had 28564 AP still left, and, he was stuck, well, dead. At least, in that simulated battle. I just sighed, it was a little underwhelming, I was somewhat hoping for a fight still though. Nothing really beat Wynne's abilities I guess, she could probably take down a few of these guys in a row without a single worry. Actually, since it was a tie, and, we both somewhat played around a little, we both could take down a fair amount of these guys together. Ah, whatever.

After all those, I went, took a shower, and, right as soon as I got back to where my place was on the base, immediately got a call from Wynne, who said she knew the when and where, since I had no idea what was around still. Embarrassingly enough, I guess. Either way, it'd still work I assumed. I just hope things work out half as well as hoped. All things considered, yes, things were going very well.


	6. Chapter 6: Average Merc Day

Disclaimer: I don't own Armored Core For Answer. And how much I've missed saying that!

Chapter 6: Average Merc Day

I woke up again to a loud beeping of the alarm. Once again I growled as I hit the top of it. Patrol missions sucked, I'd decided the night before. But at least they gave good money, since I was to meet Wynne that night, which immediately cheered me up. Serena whistled through the intercom and I yawned.

"Hey, Kid, you got a call from your brother on line 2. Encrypted number, but it's him" I immediately woke up.

"Okay! I'm getting it now!" I scrambled over and picked up the receiver, my hands shaking.

"Hey little bro, how's it going?" I laughed.

"It's going pretty well, thanks. Your end?"

"Here's doing well, my Company's gonna give me a little bit of time off since they're doing well enough for now. Fiona's happy where we are, and she's pregnant. We're coming there, figured you could stand to have some guests for a bit" I grinned.

"I'd be happy to. I can't believe you're coming here. You using your real AC, or the Aaliyah, or the HOGIRE?" He laughed.

"I can't use my real AC, it's a testbed. I'll come in the Aaliyah. I heard a bit about your own bit of romance as well, Wynne D. Fanchon? I like your taste, she's real easy to get along with and even easier to work with. She handles herself. A bit headstrong maybe, but I suppose you don't mind challenges. I also heard that you're climbing the ranks, that should be fun. I'll be there in a couple days, and since you're probably still not used to the area, I'll show you some fun places near the base. Some you could bring Wynne to, I'm sure some of them she won't know"

"Awesome, thanks. I didn't expect all this..."

"I know little bro, but since we're both doing a job where we might die tomorrow I knew I should spend time with you. Besides, you got a big chance for good romance and being your older brother I can't let you fail because of faulty knowledge!" I laughed.

"Okay, fine fine. I'll see ya soon, it's been great talking to you Craig, but I have a feeling Serena will kick my butt from here to my AC if I'm not out of here soon" My brother laughed on the other end.

"Yeah, kinda figured. See ya little bro, been great talking to you" I heard the phone being hung up and hung it up on my end too. I had a large smile as I did PT training and breakfast. The White Glint was standing in the bay, looking impressive as ever. James walked up with a grin himself.

"I managed to tune the White Glint's reactor, it's giving even a little bit more power now. The generator's bells and whistles are rather interesting but are easy to iron out if you've got the know-how" James wiped his hands on one of the rags as I jumped into the cockpit for energy readings.

"Awesome job James, I thought only engineers were to tweak this stuff?" He gave a shifty grin.

"They never figured an engineer would be smart enough to do something so simple to boost the power" He climbed up to the cockpit and pulled up a schematic of the generator before and after. He pointed at a random wall or so it seemed to me. "This wall contains the fusion reaction, but by rerouting some sections of the energy capturing devices here and here I get a positive increase due to the fact it's capturing the energy more directly and it runs cooler also because of the added vents there and there. Also the coolant's system was able to be dialed up a tiny bit, also providing more power in hotter running conditions. May add a minute or two to the meltdown clock as well" I whistled.

"James, if you don't end up designing generators then something's up. I've no idea even if you practically made it possible for a high-school student at times, because this schematic's more complicated than my flight suit. But, thanks a lot James.(1)" James shrugged and grinned.

"Hey, I'm here to make it easier for you to survive and keep me with a paycheck. Besides, you're a good friend" I nodded with a smile and he walked back down to the floor of the hangar to get his break in.

I began logging more simulation time, quickly arranging a much heavier and slightly slower Heavy Glint. I grinned at my watch, Wynne told me to meet her at the hangar next door, since she knew a good place for lunch. Yep, things were going good.

She smiled when she saw me and gave me a small hug. "I'm glad you remembered, it can be kinda hard to remember stuff when working on your own AC I know" I nodded. "So, let's get going then Devon, and see what this future holds"

Sorry for the extremely short chapter, and the fact it's a filler, but the simple fact is that I wanted to say I've got my game and I'll be sending chapters for this again. Sorry it took so long, just had to find my 3rd stupid disk of ACFA. I love the game, don't get me wrong, but they work for crap for me it seems. I'll treat this one like the Ark of the Covenant most likely so I don't have to go ACFA disk hunting again. The first filler could be for whenever during the line, but most likely not for a few missions. This one is chronologically next after last chapter.


	7. Chapter 7: Battle for Respect!

Disclaimer: I don't own ACFA. Amazing, right?

Chapter 7: A Shanghai Mishap

When I returned from that first date, I found out I had a few missions that really needed doing in a couple days. I took a quick look on the day I was supposed to go on the mission, and decided on the highest-paying one that goes to Shanghai. The briefing told me I should expect Normals that can only be hit from behind, a small amount of naval ships and a Giga Base. Then a partner was assigned to me. I cursed. Loudly. Assigned to me as a partner was Otsdarva. He walked in mere moments after I finished reading the briefing. He cursed, but sighed and straightened himself before speaking.

"Hello fellow Lynx, I'm here to provide you support for your mission...And just so you know I hate you and your team"

I laughed at that, then replied, "The feeling's mutual Otsdarva. Let's just complete the mission and then get right back to hating each other to the point of wanting to shoot each other in the back" One of his eyebrows shot up then he shrugged.

"Fine by me. We leave immediately" He said before turning out the door. I shook my head for a moment before getting to my hangar and NEXT, and finishing check-ups.

"Hey, James, is the Strayed Glint ready?" James was standing at the diagnostics station looking at readouts. He turned around and nodded with a smile.

"It's more ready than you are" I looked down and laughed a moment. I hurried off and pulled on my suit before beginning the whole mission. Serena opened a line to both me and Otsdarva to tell us it'd be a little while to Shanghai. Both of us said nothing to each other in the time it took to get there.

"Okay, clear Shanghai. Keep an eye out for the Normals, they block everything that comes at them from the front" I cursed and Otsdarva laughed.

"Then I guess they've never come up against my weapons!" He lifted his laser rifle, and a large laser burst came from it and nearly scythed through the first Normal. I looked at what they were standing on and grinned. Buildings...Sitting in an ocean.

"I got an easier way" I fired a Sirius shot, which made the building collapse, and brought the Normal with it and destroyed it. He grunted on the radio and fired his laser again, taking out another Normal. I took down another building, which took down another Normal and he caught two, one with his laser and the other with his PM missiles. I turned and found a few battleships, one destroyed by Sirius, the other two by the gatling while dodging the missiles and cannon shots. Otsdarva fired his assault rifle, destroying the other. The next group of Normals were decimated extremely quickly by falling buildings, Otsdarva's laser rifle, and the Sirius. Otsdarva looked at the Giga Base and dashed off to it. I took out the few destroyers nearby, as he nearly destroyed the Giga Base. I fire the Sirius, and the Giga Base explodes.

"Looks like I won, Otsdarva" Otsdarva laughed on the com-lines.

"No, you haven't" A laser burst impacted my NEXT, rocking it. "You haven't because I can beat you!" Otsdarva fired his laser rifle again, and this time it missed. Serena began cursing him out, but then his assault rifle fell out of his hand...And his hangar weapon popped up. "I want to use a blade against you, if you survive for long enough I won't kill you now!" He charged, slashing. I quick boosted to the right, and fired the Sirius full in the LAHIRE's face.

"You're a maniac! They'd not let you get away with this!" Otsdarva laughed again.

"No! They will!" He slashed at me again, and I dodged again and used the gatling on him while the Sirius recharged. I cursed in my head. This was one of the worst places to try to run a blade battle, since the buildings could block me. I quickly grinned, realizing one thing about it that'd make it useful.

"I guess you'll have to catch me first!" He roared and stabbed forward. I quick boosted to the right and through a pair of buildings, and he stopped right before the building I wanted him to hit. He turned back around to me and charged forward again, but this time it worked. His NEXT's arm got stuck in a building. I fired the Sirius at the building, freeing his arm and completely removing the blade. His laser rifle still wasn't gone though, he fired and my PA almost dissolved. I cursed and kept speeding backward, and to the left. He cleared away the building...But this time was smacked by dozens of gatling gun rounds and smacked into a building. "You've already lost the laser blade, we're done Otsdarva!" I turned around and overboosted, leaving Otsdarva behind. "Serena, did you get the video of that fight?"

"Yes. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go with your girlfriend and figure out how best to kill him" I gave a hesitant laugh.

"Don't. I want to keep you guys around. He'd be hell to kill, not only because of his piloting but because the League likes him too much" Serena laughed.

"Yeah. In any case, he's not catching up. You're almost back, since you didn't overboost to the mission zone. Runway four is cleared" I sighed with relief, and touched down the Strayed Glint lightly. "Landed, I'm getting the hell off the runway now!" I boosted to the hangar, and closed the hangar doors. I quickly scuttled off to the debrief, received the cash I could for the end of the mission, and hurried back to the hangar. To find Otsdarva standing there staring at my NEXT. He turned around when he heard the door.

"I knew you'd be here soon. I hate hearing myself have to say this, but I see now why some think you're really good. I'm glad I got a chance to fight you like that, now I know the Arena fight will be close. You've actually gained respect with me, instead of killing me or severely damaging my NEXT you just made me stop long enough for you to get away. You also acted back. Congratulations. Now, if you don't mind, I need to get my own cash from that mission. See ya...Daven" I stood there for a moment before shaking my head and grinning. Serena and James walked in a moment later, surprised to find me grinning.

"What just happened Kid?"

"Otsdarva isn't on the war path anymore, he finally admitted that I'm strong" Serena sighed.

"James, we can't go through with killing Otsdarva then...Too bad" James scratched the back of his head.

"You drafted me...And how did you know I liked you?" She grinned.

"Drill sergeant from hell according to Kid. I get in your head" James gave a shaky, hesitant laugh as she cackled. Serena stopped after a minute and turned back to me.

"Wynne heard, she's glad you did so well. She also wanted me to tell you that she'll be back in a couple weeks, her Company's got a long-term mission they need her to do against terrorists" I nodded. I really wanted to see her soon, she'd been great to me for a while now. "Oh, and your brother's going to be docking his NEXT in hangar 12 in about 30 minutes" I grinned. "Only problem is that his NEXT suffered a slight failure, you may need to go pick him up if he isn't here" I nodded, and heard a sub-sonic thump. Figuring it was a League NEXT, I replied.

"I'll get back in the NEXT, where wou-" The base's intercom and sirens crackled then roared.

"WARNING! Incoming enemy NEXTs! All forces, arm and repel attackers!" I cursed loudly and ran up the ramp leading to the cockpit, landing and connecting with the interface quickly.

"James! Is the Strayed Glint full on ammo?" James gave me a thumbs up to the camera as he read the diagnostic panel again.

"It's as full as she'll get! GO!"

"All staff in hangar 11, I'd recommend getting into the bunkers below the base! NOW!" I walked the NEXT to the hangar, and pumped a short burst from the gatlings into the doors. The doors fell open to complete catastrophe. A GA NEXT was right in front of me, destroyed by a large Kojima shot from above. I quickly activated the boost, scanning as fast as I could. An explosion was what alerted me to a heavily armed NEXT to my right. It was one of the older TELLUS models, but armed with a grenade cannon on the right arm and a sparkling Kojima rifle in the left. I cursed and quick boosted, as both missed. The gatlings on my arms opened up, ripping through its PA quickly and taking chunks of armor off the TELLUS when another explosion alerted me to someone from behind, who had an Aaliyah frame with a HITMAN and what seemed a spread bazooka. The Aaliyah was almost destroyed, I didn't have time to turn before it was sniped by Wong. When I had turned back around to the TELLUS, it was hit by Roadie. I looked upwards...And didn't like the looks of things.

An old NEXT was right above me...Fully charged Kojima arm-style weapons. I dodged by quick boosting towards it, and fired a Sirius shot with the left gatling cannon. The NEXT's PA was dissolved before it hit the ground, and the Sirius shot left the core of it a smoking hole. Before I could even catch a breath, a sniper round smashed into my NEXT. This one was an old BFF model, just 500 meters away. It discarded its sniper rifle and snapped up a long storable laser blade. Before he could charge, another League NEXT had dashed in and slashed.

This time, though, a newer Interior NEXT fired a shoulder-mounted pulse gun at me. I snapped up both arm-mounted gatlings and fired as quickly as I could. The Interior NEXT kept firing its pulse gun, but it then used its left arm weapon, a railgun. I felt it impact the NEXT, and nearly break the PA. I cursed loudly, and swapped and fired a Sirius shot. The Sirius shot impacted the Interior NEXT, and blew off its left arm and its left back weapon. The Interior NEXT paused for a moment, long enough for a large burst to be fired into the core of it and destroy it.

Another League NEXT appeared in my vision, fighting an older SOLUH. It was Otsdarva fighting him, and Otsdarva was being pushed back by the SOLUH's pair of VANDA machine guns and its VTF missiles. He fired his laser rifle, and it hit the SOLUH. It didn't pierce the PA. The SOLUH's machine guns managed to pierce his though, and his armor started taking some hits. I quick boosted to the Soluh, and fired both shoulder weapons as fast as they reloaded while it was on the ground. The SOLUH quickly grew bullet-ridden and burn ridden before it finally stopped moving.

"Thanks Daven, wouldn't have made it otherwise. We need to get back there and take the rest out now though!" Otsdarva quick boosted towards the main part of the fighting, and helped Roadie take down another NEXT. I boosted into the fight, and let loose with the gatlings on a LANCEL, which was destroyed by Starka's blade. Shamir boosted through and smashed two NEXTs with her shotguns as Merrygate pounded another with missiles.

All of a sudden, a new NEXT burst over the airspace. It was an Aaliyah, my brother's. Another NEXT also came in over the airspace, a new LAHIRE burst into the fight. My brother's Aaliyah nodded and fired both of its weapons at once, as the LAHIRE fired a FLUORITE plasma rifle. The Aaliyah quick boosted to the right and swapped to a WHEELING, and fired. Half the missiles the LAHIRE shot down with a Motorcobra. The next few the Lahire dodged before getting slammed by the rest and another set of rounds from my brother's rifle and an old laser rifle. The Aaliyah quickly swapped its left shoulder weapon, firing a laser cannon that broke the PA and knocked off the Lahire's right back weapon and its Motorcobra. The Lahire swapped to the left back weapon, and fired the sniper cannon attached.

The Aaliyah couldn't dodge, and now I knew the problem with the Aaliyah. Its PA couldn't form. The Aaliyah's left leg and left weapon were nearly destroyed, but my brother fired his rifle again, landed on the ground with one leg and jumped back up. The Aaliyah fired its laser rifle while firing the Wheeling again. The Lahire's core got a smoking hole not a meter from the generator as the Wheeling missiles detonated themselves right on the core. The Lahire dropped to the ground, bisected by explosions. The Aaliyah touched down again for an extremely brief moment before activating boost at a level that'd allow it to hover. It then turned around towards me.

"Hey little bro. This Aaliyah's almost had it, so can you help me dock?" The Aaliyah began to slowly drift downwards.

"Yeah, it'll be easier without these" Both arm-mounted gatlings detached, and the Aaliyah drifted towards me and set a hand on my left shoulder. After a moment of wondering how in the world it'd work out, the Aaliyah was being carried by my NEXT and Roadie to hangar 12, where it was put onto the NEXT frame holder and locked in. Roadie walked off after helping and making sure my brother was good. He hopped out of the NEXT, and helped Fiona get out as well. Both waved at my NEXT before I walked into hangar 11. James immediately set to work on my NEXT, and assured me that he'd work on my brother's as well with the spares. A moment after changing into my regular clothes, my brother and Fiona walked in a moment later and he grinned at me after he and Fiona hugged me.

"I saw you fight during part of that battle, you're getting really good. It was pretty cool to see you take down a couple of NEXTs in a battle that big, and sustain a rather small amount of damage. I'm really glad that all that training we did before worked out so well" I laughed a little bit.

"Yeah. I am too. I'm glad about half the League NEXTs were here, otherwise the result might've been entirely different. Anyways, I was kinda wondering who you're working for and what NEXT are you using as well?" His grin faulted slightly before he sighed.

"I can't tell you except in private. The League likes to keep close tabs some days. Your room would probably best to answer your question" I nodded, and lead them both to it. When we went in, he scanned the room quickly. Fiona got on a chair as I sat on my bed and he looked around in the middle of the room. "I guess they still don't bug the rooms"

"Yeah...I checked myself as well, and made sure to remove them. Only two cameras, and without audio. The whole rest of the room checks out, I used my NEXT's scanning capabilities and one of the more delicate diagnostics devices. Nothing else besides what's here" He nodded.

"Good, you did learn well. Anyways...What I was about to tell you was that I work for Line Ark. My NEXT is about the same as yours, the White Glint. I had the developer make a second one for you but without the bells and whistles so that it'd be entirely safe for you" I nodded slowly, but then something dawned on me.

"Hang on, Line Ark can make more NEXTs?" My brother shook his head.

"No. We don't have the pilots, nor the needed parts anymore. The man who made it only had enough parts for two really, and one of them would be without all the extras. My NEXT, as I told you, is a testbed for Line Ark. I wish we had more resources though, since most of our forces would be destroyed if it wasn't for the League focusing on the League itself. What we're trying to do at Line Ark, though, is to try to end the oppressive forces of the League and let the people be in control again. During the Lynx War the regular civilians regularly were put to work in colonies and put to work. They still do that in places as well" I sighed.

"Not all of the League is bad, but I understand what you mean" He nodded.

"Line Ark gave you a fair amount of stuff, stuff that's mostly been taken from larger Companies. One of the things is that even though that sounds bad, they normally have a lot more in production. You've seen how easy it is to lose or destroy a weapon. They make a lot of them, in fact if it wasn't for AMS being rather rare we'd be looking at thousands potentially, not dozens to maybe a little under a hundred due to the League and independents that aren't registered. Some of the weapons, though, as I'm sure you've noticed come from my own personal collection as well as some of the parts" I nodded.

"Okay...Makes sense I guess. I just kinda wanted to know why you're hesitant about telling with the League potentially listening or watching?" He grinned.

"They're not sure what I am as of yet. I don't talk on open com-lines without a filter and I use my old number when sending things unless it's an encrypted call" I nodded again.

"Okay. Anyways...How's it going?" My brother grinned and looked to Fiona, who smiled back and took her place beside him and held his hand. Fiona answered this time.

"Things are going as well as we could've ever hoped. Your brother is helping out Line Ark but not fighting NEXTs, like I told him he couldn't. The League still hasn't caught on, we're still allowed to move from place to place if we want. He's also been a good husband, as he well should be" My brother scratched the back of his head.

"When you say it like that it sounds like I'm whipped..." She laughed.

"Okay, fine, he does it to make me happy and because I can be a little short tempered at times what with a baby coming soon. He is trained and whipped though" My brother sighed but then straightened.

"So, I know of this great deli down the road. How about I take you there? I know you'll enjoy it" I grinned and nodded. "Good, and when Wynne comes back we can get her to come a few times as well since I've really only known a little bit about her from others" We all walked out, planning on enjoying the time they'd be there on vacation.

Yeah, the battle with the massive amount of NEXTs is not canon. Or at least, we never hear about one. Some of the NEXT pilots you never run into except in Simulations, so I decided some of them could be removed through that. Most of the ones killed were trainees, except for Champion Champs and a few lower ranked ones. I'd also bet there's more NEXTs around than the ones you encounter, since raiding the League could be possible at times with terrorist or guerrilla forces. Or if someone just bought a NEXT.


	8. Chapter 8: The Red Berets

Disclaimer: No owning Armored Core over here. Yet again.

Chapter 8:

A few hours after the talk with my brother and lunch, the base released official totals of damage reports. At least 300 million in damages to buildings, electrical networks, and the like. 1,578 people killed. 3 of those were pilots of NEXTs, the rest were others such as Normal pilots, or people caught beneath or around the battlefield with the overwhelming amount regular troops and maintenance. At least 3,500 wounded. They also published the NEXT kill record: For each League NEXT destroyed, four to five insurgent NEXT were annihilated. It also had a statement at the bottom that read like this: The League appreciates everyone's efforts in eliminating the insurgents. For all those wounded, payment will be forwarded for all needed care. For relatives with people killed, you will receive a large sum to pay for any expense, and will be offered a place and job on a new Cradle or anywhere of your choosing. For all pilots with machine damage, you will receive necessary funds for repair and rearmament. Every pilot will also receive 200,00 for participating, and 200,000 for each confirmed NEXT kill.

The next day they held most of the funerals, and the day after that the rest. The base had an almost grim attitude for those two days, which didn't really lift for me, my team, and my brother and Fiona until Wynne came. She actually came very early, left in her NEXT on overboost. She pretty much banged down the door to my room at about five in the morning, woke me up, and then hugged me, she had heard both about Otsdarva and the battle.

"Y'know Daven, you're not allowed to die now. You hear me?" Wynne kind of gave a laugh. "Sorry I'm a mess, it's just the whole fact I get the report hearing about the battle, hearing that there were numerous enemies and numerous killed pilots and plenty in care, and I freaked out. Then I also get the report about Otsdarva facing misconduct because he attacked a Lynx, namely you. I couldn't stand knowing if you were killed or injured...I just couldn't" She gave another half-laugh. "War seems to make everything go fast...And I'm sorry about waking you up" Wynne began composing herself after letting go, and she blushed. "And I didn't realize you'd be wearing boxers and a shirt only...Well if you're awake, which you probably are, let's get breakfast. I'm sure your brother and Fiona are probably awake" I nodded, and she quickly walked out of my room. About ten minutes later she knocked, and my brother and Fiona were with her. She smiled instantly, and I had a smile of my own as well. My brother and Fiona both gave a small chuckle, and all four of us walked to a nearby restaurant unharmed by the battle. Wynne had a bit more to say about rising NEXT battles before we got there though.

"It's not heard of by plenty, but there's been other similar attacks by NEXTs lately. It's only been one unit at a time though, and all of them have been destroyed without any large losses but mainly it's just a single unit against the defenses, and the defenses at the very least chew through enough PA and armor or outright destroy the enemies. That's why I was deployed to the Interior Arteria facility, to ensure that no NEXTs would seize control or destroy it" I open the door for all four of us, and we all filed in slowly. My brother whistled.

"The Arteria facilities...I wonder why. The Cradles are the only thing that seem to hold up humanity, because of the large-scale Kojima particle contamination. Plenty of places used to be paradises, like New Peace City used to be a thriving city. Now it's just a war-torn ruin. They could be after the leadership though, but that wouldn't make sense either, they could've just attacked the Cradles outright. Doesn't truly make sense" My brother got us a booth on the outer, far edge. Fiona was the first to speak up.

"It sounds like you're doing well though Wynne, and I'm glad for that. You need to be on top of things to keep that one in line" Wynne laughed as my head dipped.

"To tell you the truth it's not hard...Does whipped run in the family?" I bang my head on the table right as my brother does. "Okay, he's not actually whipped, he's just nice to me. Besides, he's actually a gentleman to me compared to most of the other Lynx" Fiona finally stopped joking.

"Yeah. They actually are nice, and mostly gentleman. They are a bit stubborn though" Wynne nodded. I decided to break through the silence after ordering our food.

"Well, we feel our opinions should be noted and should count. Or we just feel like giving it. Like on that laser sword, I know it's Interior but there are plenty of market blades you can use" Wynne shrugged.

"Pilots not with a Company can use any parts they want to. It's easier because they have no sights to keep with the Company's line, they can swap out when they want easily. If you were to work for say BFF, you'd have to use BFF weapons and NEXTs. My NEXT was given to me after seeing my combat proficiency, they gave me it equipped with powerful and sometimes experimental weapons. The pulse cannon is one example, it was newer when my NEXT was made. As was the laser blade, and laser cannon" I nodded in understanding. My brother cut in then.

"Some have been allowed use of different parts, but because of how strong they are. I was an Independent for Anatolia, I got to use what I wanted. Berlioz is a good example of someone who got his way with what he equipped though. The original White Glint was also an Independent, but was forced by a Company to come after me" He then shrugged. "Though of course we see how well it worked. Plenty in all the League's Companies don't enjoy Independents. Like that Interior mechanic who ruined your VOB little bro" I nodded. "So really it's just your preference. I liked being able to choose though...That was great" He looked up as Wynne asked a similar question.

"I noticed from videos in the report that you're still in top form, and using aerial attacks. Who do you work for? I've got some ideas right now" My brother sighed and looked to both me and Wynne.

"If I tell you I endanger you, and will end up severely harming my brother. I told him because I know he'd never tell anyone unless I gave him permission. I don't want to hurt the people I care for" Wynne's eyes grew as she realized and leaned over to whisper to my brother.

"You...You're...The Glint?" My brother sighed and looked carefully around before whispering even lower and leaned over to her ear.

"The second. Unwittingly, my brother became the third when he made and named his" Wynne looked to me then, and I shrugged.

"I liked the name. Besides if my craft is of speed, and the original White Glint was known for it I may as well adapt part of it. The Strayed Glint" She sighed and shook her head.

"Wow...Your family is different Daven. At least you guys stick together" She chuckled. "Even if accidentally" The waitress brought the food, and we all ate and finished with light conversation afterwards. We left after my brother swiped his card, and Wynne left to get some sleep. She was still really tired. My brother went into the hangar with me to get a closer look at the Strayed Glint. He was glad that he gave it to me, it filled the application I needed it to fill extraordinarily as he was checking the diagnostics and readouts.

"Definitely a high speed craft, good job with it. When you get the stuff to properly tune instead of minor upgrades here and there you'll get it rocketing everywhere. I'm glad I managed to upgrade the Aaliyah before we left though, because otherwise it'd have run out of energy in the midair fight. The Aaliyah's starting to become too much of a hassle though, it's been through a bit too much" He then looked over to the parts I had. "Actually, little bro, would you mind helping me out? Your Aaliyah's pretty new since it was in warehousing and wasn't touched. Would you mind giving it to me?" I grinned.

"Go ahead. I'd be an idiot to not let you have it since you gave me all this" My brother shrugged, but nodded.

"Great, thanks. Your mechanic's excellent, he's already fixed the leg and even gave it a slight overhaul to the frame" I shrugged.

"When he first came here he didn't seem that way, but I think it was just because of nervousness. He's mostly a gentle guy" My brother laughed.

"Well, some people are only in a war to make sure others don't die. He's probably one of them. Anyways, I should probably start seeing how your Aaliyah's doing and swap it over to my systems. See ya later" He walked over to the Aaliyah and got in the cockpit quickly and easily. But before I could turn around, Serena was in front of me.

"Kid, they've got another mission for you. Interior sent the briefing, it's ready for you" I quickly went up to receive the briefing, and was surprised. I had to protect a transport from GA units. It didn't seem too bad, so I accepted and grinned. It'd not be hard to protect the group. I quickly grabbed and put on my suit, and quickly accessed the weapons assembly for the Strayed Glint. The right arm kept the gatling, and the left got a newer GA bazooka. I got in the cockpit, and the launch proceeded normally.

I got to the battlezone a few hours later. Serena spoke up about it. "GA would like to keep this route, they may throw out a few unexpected variables but it should be handled relatively easily. Commence mission, try to whittle down the enemy forces as much as possible before the transports arrive" I nodded and blasted forward on boost.

The first group was just four Normals, the bazooka fired and destroyed one while the gatling chewed threw a second. The Normals responded with their own shots, which I quick boosted to the left to avoid while another bazooka shot fired and the Sirius fired at the last, destroying them both. I turned back to the route, and flew forward. The second group was on a ridge a little ways away, with two Normals and two missile trucks. The trucks instantly fired their missiles, which missed because of a bad missile lock. A Normal fired its bazooka, and also missed. I didn't. A bazooka round destroyed a Normal, while the gatling made one Normal fall and the two missile trucks. I noticed three more Normals and three sniper-types. Serena spoke moments before I fired.

"The transport unit has reached the combat zone" I fired the bazooka at a Normal, while the gatling took out two sniper-types. A single sniper round hit, but glanced off as the gatling chewed through the last sniper-type and the bazooka fired again. "Escort the transports as they pass through the area" Another Normal exploded, and a Sirius shot destroyed the last Normal again. I swapped to the back-mounted gatling after the last bazooka shot as well.

"Interior transport reporting" I boosted forwards, and fired both gatlings. The heavier gatling destroyed all the missile trucks as the arm-mounted one destroyed a Normal. "So you're our escort today? Good luck to both of us"

The last one fell under both gatlings. I glanced at the AP and noticed I'd also taken another hit but shook my head and kept moving forward towards another group on a ridge. The Normals fired their bazookas, and I dodged and flew to the right, and opened fire with both gatlings. They decimated the Normals without letting them fire again.

Another group of trucks and Normals were up ahead. The bazooka fired again, and the Normal fell to pieces. The gatling destroyed the line of trucks as the bazooka fired again towards another Normal, destroying it as well. Normal number three fell from having its arms and torso riddled with gatling bullets. I dashed forward, and noticed more contacts on radar.

"Confirmed, transports selecting shortest route" I laughed at the enemies on the ridge, they were MTs with two missile trucks on a higher ridge. The gatling took them out in less than a second, while the back mounted gatling also destroyed the trucks. I looked ahead, and grinned.

"Well, this won't be half bad this time" A small group of Normals and sniper-types were sitting in front of a tunnel. The bazooka roared another shot down into the group, taking out a sniper-type while the rest responded. This time a few shots connected but glanced off. I knew that I didn't want to let them hit me again and the gatling opened up as a response, quickly tearing through two sniper-types while the bazooka turned a Normal into shrapnel. The last Normal was destroyed by the gatling as well, just in time for me to miss what was said.

I boosted forward into the tunnel, keeping an eye on the radar until two large contacts showed up. Serena mentioned they were Arms Forts, and they could trash the transports. I grinned, and fired. The front left leg of the first one had a large chunk missing out of it from the bazooka, and the gatling finished the leg off and helped the next leg fall too, which made the whole Arms Fort tip onto its side. Dodging the main cannon, I fired a Sirius shot at the cannon, disabling it. The missiles launched moments later.

"Okay then..." I quickly fired both gatlings into where the missiles came from, destroying the weapons systems of one. The second fired its cannon...And hit, rocketing me backwards 50 feet, but the boosters caught and propelled me up and forward, easily within reach for the Sirius shot. The bazooka fired again, and miraculously caught missiles just as they were shooting out of the Arms Fort obliterating its ability to shoot them and effectively destroying the Arms Fort. 20 seconds after I destroyed both, the transports emerged from the tunnel. Finally they were out of the tunnel. Moments later they were out of the area, and I could return.

When I got back I sighed with relief at being done with the mission. My brother was testing out the system in the Aaliyah, and he nodded to me before pointing to the inside of the hangar. A few moments after entering he opened a line to me.

"Hey little bro, the Aaliyah and the system alterations work well. I gotta admit, your mechanic knows how to work well on this type of thing. I've gotta leave pretty soon, my employ is going to need my help. Thanks for the good time" I nodded to the screen.

"Okay. It's no problem. I'll get Wynne after I put this thing up" My brother nodded.

"See ya in a bit" My brother turned back to doing complex moves with his NEXT, making sure it was fully prepared for the trip back. I quickly ran through the debrief, and went to Wynne's room after checking it on the computer. She opened the door and gave me a hug, with a smile. I smiled back and appreciated it. She walked with me until the hangar, and then she hovered for a moment, but shook her head and kept on walking. There, my brother was standing with the Aaliyah fully prepared with Fiona as well. Both turned when they heard the footsteps. Both gave me a hug, Fiona hugged Wynne and my brother nodded to her with a small smile. My brother turned to me after that.

"Make sure you don't die, and keep this girl okay? She'd work out well for you. Just...Don't let the fact she's a catch inflate your head. I don't want to have to take a pin to your inflated ego" My brother gave a short laugh as I grinned back.

"How about you just make sure you survive to deflate it if the need comes up. See ya Craig, Fiona" Fiona leaned against my brother.

"Don't worry, he knows if something happens to him I won't appreciate it. And he knows he enjoys his life more when he's happy" My brother sighed but smiled again. Wynne stepped forward.

"I hope to see you two soon, you're great people" My brother and Fiona nodded before turning around and getting into the Aaliyah and taking off, not without a wave from my brother's Aaliyah. Wynne turned to me and nodded before speaking.

"I won't tell anyone, it's not worth hurting you and others. Besides, as he said Line Ark's NEXT pilot hasn't gone after any other Lynx and most likely won't. I do have bad news about us having a late lunch though, Interior needs combat records downloaded to the information network in the British Isles...I'll be back soon though I hope Daven" She stepped forward and gave me a hug, before giving a large smile and a kiss on the cheek. Yep, she's definitely good to me and my family.

Author's Notes:

Yeah, Wynne learning about or figuring out who White Glint is first time they meet is unlikely. Wynne's smart, she's the only one who went to Arteria Cranium of all the Lynx and brought you along too in the League ending so I figure she'd find out from many of the hints. The League doesn't look at him entirely off since he's not truly been identified with Line Ark, I'm thinking the ID of White Glint's pilot is mostly based off hearsay until the actual mission occurs.

Oh, and yeah I know she's also taking it real well too.


	9. An Update for the Readers

Okay, sorry. I feel I should take note of this to those who read this. I'm not posting every other week, part of that is the fact I have to write a Naruto story as well. Another part is the RP I'm working with others on, that'll become a fanfiction later on. To be honest as well, this 'chapter' was going to have a side-mission that was going to suck. It was supposed to stop the sputter of the 'boring' missions, because while reading about a character doing a beginning mission is fun in the beginning, it quickly gets old and I realize that.

So, if people don't mind, I'm going to timeskip to some of the 'biggest' moments of the game and continue on from there. The RP I'm reading has some really cool stuff, and it's given me great ideas and I don't want to continue plaguing them with it, so to cool off some of it I'll do that here. I'll also post character interactions that are helpful to the story as well. Wish I could MAKE each mission more fun, but it's hard to do that and truly 'keep' to the story (at least as best as I can for the moment). So, in a couple weeks, expect a post. And expect it to be filled with that high-speed combat we know and love in ACfA. Or, at least best as I can put it. Either one.


End file.
